


Unsupervised Small Children and PTSD (are not a good mix)

by bargledblocks



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Misunderstandings, Post-Prison Arc (Dream SMP), TommyInnit Angst (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit-centric (Video Blogging RPF)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 12:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30072381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bargledblocks/pseuds/bargledblocks
Summary: It was the first time Tommy was going to be meeting Michael, of course, maybe Tubbo and Ranboo should have stayed to monitor the situation before sending the blond up to introduce himself.
Relationships: Bench Trio - Relationship, Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Ranboo & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Comments: 16
Kudos: 861





	Unsupervised Small Children and PTSD (are not a good mix)

**Author's Note:**

> Yeehaw Michael meets Tommy fic lets goooooooooooo
> 
> (Also note, Michael refers to Tubbo as Dad, and Ranboo as Papa, just to avoid any confusion)

The cold was always the first thing Tommy would notice in Snowchester, after that it was the cozyness of the place. It reminded him of the time he spent with Techno, except this had a feeling of community that the tundra cabin lacked, and he felt less on edge then he had back then.

Aside from today, that is. Today was the day Tubbo and Ranboo decided to introduce him to Michael. It's not that he _didn't_ want to meet the zombie piglin child, it's just that he had no idea how to _handle_ kids. They were so fragile and breakable, anything could go wrong, and he didn't want to give Tubbo more reasons to replace him. Well, anymore than the other boy already _had._

And of _course_ the two decided it would be fine to leave him alone with this small, fragile, _child._ He stood awkwardly next to the trap door that led out of the room, giving him the option to easily chicken out should he feel the need to.

"Uh… He- hello, Michael…" Tommy gave a quick wave to the child in the corner, who quickly turned around from the window he was looking out, and tilting his head at Tommy. Curiosity shining bright in his eyes, and then, like a blur the little piglin was right in front him. And then Michael headbutted him in the thigh, _hard._

Tommy felt the harsh jolt of pain rocket through his body and it was like he was _there_ all over again, in the blind of his panic, he quickly pushed Michael away, not noticing how the child fell backwards into a sitting position on the floor. Tommy backed up until he was pressed into the wall, sliding down with his arms held up and guarding his face, quietly whispering to himself, "No, no, no stop- please, I'm sorry I didn't mean to I swear-"

\---

Michael watched from where he sat on the floor, getting knocked over hurt a little bit, but he was okay. However, he quickly remembered how his parents had told him that this person- Tommy, he remembered, was _delicate_ and how he had to be _careful_ around him, and he _scared_ him! He wasn't sure what to do, he didn't think it was a good idea to go over to try and comfort Tommy. After all, he was the one who scared the golden haired friend in the first place, and he was pushed away.

So, he did the first thing he could think to do; cry for his parents. He didn't know how to speak like them yet, even though he understood what they'd say, but the distressed squeals always seemed to get his parents attention. He had to let them know that Tommy was hurt! That he needed help!

Soon, his parents worried faces popped up through the trap door, both coming in and checking over him. He shook his head, trying to say that he was _fine,_ pointing towards Tommy, who was still sitting there on the floor but looked more calm than he had a moment ago. The two turned to the other person in the room _finally_.

"Tommy?" Papa, the taller one, asked, "What happened?" 

Tommy's head snapped up, and then his eyes landed on Michael, who hid behind dad's legs, he didn't wanna scare Tommy again. "I- I'm sorry I- he- he ran at me and knocked me in the leg with his head and I wasn't expecting it and it hurt and I- I pushed him away-"

Michael watched both of his fathers posture tense at that, and he tried to get their attention, tried to tell them that he was _okay_ , but it was already too late.

"You _pushed_ him?!" Dad's voice was louder than it usually was, and Michael himself almost felt a bit scared, "Tommy, he's a _child!_ I know you've been through a lot, but you should know better!"

Tommy flinched back at the harsh tone, bringing his arms closer back into that guarded position in front of his face as he slowly stood back up, "I- know I didn't- I wasn't thinking-"

"Of course not," Dad's tone dipped with a slight venom, "you _never_ think! That's why all this shit always happens! You just rush into things and act without considering the consequences!" 

Tommy flinched back again, "Tubbo, I-"

"Save it. I don't wanna hear the excuses right now." 

"Tommy," Papa's voice was much softer than dads, but it still sounded scolding, like when Michael got into something he shouldn't, "You, of _all_ people, should know how damaging things like that can be."

Michael didn't understand, why were they being so _mean?_ They were the ones who told _him_ to be careful with careful Tommy! He tried tugging at dads sleeve, letting out an annoyed grunt and pointing at Tommy, trying to get across that "Look! He's scared! You're scaring him!"

"Guy's please, I- I didn't mean to-" Michael could see a slight sheep in Tommy's eyes and _oh,_ here was going to cry.

"Tommy, I think it's better if you just leave for now." Papa said, his tone never weavering the way Dads had.

Tommy took a hesitant step forward, "Please, I didn't-"

Dad's head snapped up, a harsh glare on his face, " _Leave,_ Tommy!" he crossed his arms, shaking his head and turning to look at the wall, tone lowering to a near whisper, "I never should have let you in here." 

Michael could tell Tommy heard him though, from the way his shoulders tensed, "R- right… I'll just- I'll just go now, then." 

Michael grunted and tried to run over to him as he opened the trap door, but Papa caught the fabric of his sleeve, "No, Michael. You gotta stay up here." 

\---

Ranboo watched Michael let out a low whine as Tommy closed the trap door, running over to the window as soon as he was free from the grip on his sleeve, watching the blond leave the house and then the small snowy village. He huffed and stomped in anger, turning to face his parents.

Ranboo crouched down in front of his son, "What's wrong buddy?" 

Michael only squealed and stomped harder, pointing towards the window with an annoyed grunt. 

Tubbo kneeled down next to them as well, a sad look in his eyes, "Yeah, I'm sorry about Tommy, he can be… Rough, around the edges sometimes." 

They watched as their son shook his head, stomping in frustration. They shared a look, trying to figure out what Michael was so frustrated about, "Is it… Not Tommy you're upset with?" Ranboo tried carefully, earning a nod.

"But," Tubbo tilted his head, "Didn't he hurt you?" Michael shook his head, then pointed to himself. "You…" Tubbo glanced to Ranboo for a moment before turning his eyes back to his son, "You hurt _him_?" his tone lacked any accusation, but he felt a little spike of ice in his chest when Michael nodded again.

"Are you mad at us, for yelling at him?" Ranboo asked softly, another nod, this time paired with an annoyed grunt. Then Michael stomped and pointed to the window again. "Do you want us to go find him?" Michael nodded again.

"Alright," Tubbo said as he stood, "You be good. We'll go make sure he's okay." Michelle shook his head again and stomped, pointing to the floor. "You… Want us to bring him back here?" Another nod, along with a small happy squeal.

Tubbo and Ranboo smiled softly at each other, "Okay." Ranboo spoke quietly as they took their leave.

\---

The moment Tommy got out of the house he broke into a run. He wasn't sure where he was going exactly, he just knew he could be _here._ Not in Snowchester. He traveled alongside the edge of the tunnel from the winter commune that led to the greater SMP. Not inside of it though, knowing full well that he'd probably get stuck and start taking damage, though he wasn't sure if the feeling of drowning would scare him more, or the fear of causing his friends even _more_ anger by breaking the glass tunnel trying to get a gasp of air.

When his trident pulled him up to land, he broke into another run. He passed his hotel, should he go there? _No._ He could hurt SamNook too, it wouldn't be the first time. He kept running by, even as the robot called out in concern.

He ran along the path, crashing into someone and startling both then and himself. 

"Tommy? Are you okay?" Puffy called out, concern lacing her voice. He shook his head, trying to get across that he should be left alone right now. _He could hurt someone, he was_ **_dangerous_ ** _._ He kept running, he had to find somewhere away from everyone. Somewhere he couldn't hurt them.

Eventually he reached the nether hub portal, and jumping in. He didn't know where he was heading as he dashed through the blistering heat, but eventually he reached a portal and tentatively stepped through.

The sound of waves crashing nearby and the smell of sea salt and residual gunpowder was what greeted him. His only thought was how fitting a place this was for him to be. 

\---

They had been searching for almost the entire day, and still had yet to find Tommy. Tubbo was writing his hands together nervously as they stopped by the hotel for the third time that day, Sam Nook shaking his head sadly as he told them Tommy had yet to make an appearance since that morning.

Tubbo followed behind Ranboo as they left the hotel premise, "I have no idea where else he could _be,_ I mean we checked everywhere! Even Pogtopia!" he shook his head, a look of grief crossing over his face, "I never should have snapped at him like that…"

Ranboo placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "We were both worried about Michael, and we both should have paid more attention. We should have made sure to properly introduce them before we left them alone." 

Tubbo nodded, "Yeah, we gotta be sure to make it up to him to _both_ of them, when we get back home."

"We will, don't worry-" Ranboo was cut off by a worried looking Puffy, running up to them.

"Hey!" She caught her breath when she finally reached them, "You two are looking for Tommy right?" They nodded, "He ran by me earlier, he looked really scared and took off to the nether hub, I lost track of where he went, but I think you should try checking further out."

Ranboo and Turbo shared a worried look. "You don't think…?" Tubbo let the question hang in the air.

Ranboo shrugged then grabbed the other boy's wrist, "It's the only other place we haven't checked." 

Puffy started to follow behind them, "Wait, so what _happened_?" 

Tubbo cringed to himself as they walked, "We uh, we let him meet Michael."

"But… Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Puffy questioned, tilting her head a bit, "I would've figured they'd get along alright…" 

Ranboo sighed, "We did too but… We kinda just, let him go up there without properly introducing them and well, Michael wound up scaring him by headbutting him, and well… You know how Tommy gets when he takes any sort of damage."

Puffy cringed, "Yeesh, but that doesn't explain why he looked so… Scared."

Tubbo hissed, "Yeah, about that… we may have misunderstood the situation a bit, and I might've _yelled_ at him a bit."

Puffy fan a hand over here face, "Tubbo…"

"I know!" He snapped loudly, taking a breath to calm himself, "I know… I should have handled the situation better, but I'm trying to fix it _now._ If I could _find_ him at least."

They were at the hub portal now, all quickly stepping through and heading out, the path changing from blackstone to a mix of oak and stone bricks, then cobble and obsidian as they approached their destination. 

Puffy looked at them, "Logsted?"

"It's the only place we haven't checked." Ranboo answered as they walked through the swirling portal.

They searched around the former settlement, each feeling a sense of unease and grief as they wandered about the crater filled land, which had a smell similar to the crater that was once L'Manburg, minus the wither rot. They searched for a few moments, almost giving up until they saw a figure sitting at a table on the beach, knees curled up to their chest and blond hair catching the last rays of sunlight as it dipped below the crashing ocean waves.

Tubbo was the first one to call out as they approached, "Tommy?" Bright blue eyes snapped over to them, then quickly turned away, Tommy pulling his shoulders up to his ears as he curled in on himself more.

"Why are you here?" His voice lacked the usual bite it would have, instead coming out more sullen, almost defeated.

Tubbo sat down in the chair next to him, "We came to get you, big man. We've been looking for you all day."

"Why?"

"Because we were worried about you." Tubbo answered softly, resting a hand on his back. Tommy tensed at the touch, but otherwise remained how he was.

"But _why?_ I hurt him, I- I shouldn't be around anyone, I could- I could hurt them too. I don't wanna hurt anyone anymore." Tommy's voice kept hitching, and they could all hear the barely contained sniffles and see how his shoulders lightly shook as he spoke. 

"No, Tommy, Michael is okay. He wasn't hurt. We just… We overreacted a bit." Ranboo went to sit at the seat on Tommy's other side, Puffy soon followed to sit across from him on the other side of the table. "We could have- _should_ have handled the situation better. We should have known leaving you alone with a rambunctious toddler that's been cooped up." He let out a dry, humorless chuckle and ran a random through his dual colored hair.

"But- but he was crying? Surely I must've done _something,_ right? And you guys were mad so…" Tommy lifted his head up to look at Ranboo, and the enderman hybrid could see tears shining in his eyes, eyes that always seemed so much more dull than when he'd first seen them.

Ranboo sucked in a breath, cringing a bit to himself, "Yeah, sorry about that. Like I said, the situation should've been handled better. And Michael wasn't crying because _he_ was hurt, actually. Went didn't realize until later that he was crying because he thought he hurt _you._ " Ranboo laughed a bit, remembering how they even managed to come to that realization, "He was actually pretty mad at us after you left."

"Still, I could still hurt someone! I mean- I've done it before, even before I was like…this." Tommy gestured to himself as he spoke, "I mean, you remembered what I was like when I stayed with Techno… How I hurt Fundy and Connor. And for some reason he _still_ called me his friend. And apparently I did something to Jack too, so isn't it better, if I stay here? So I can't hurt anyone else?" He was furiously wiping at his eyes with his sleeve now, but it was to no avail.

Puffy reached over from where she sat and took his hands in hers, "Look, Tommy, I won't say that what you did to them was okay, because I know you know it wasn't. But those are grievances you have to take up with them, you already regret it, so the only thing you can do now is apologize. I can't say whether or not they'll forgive you, because that's entirely up to them. But at the very least, you can't keep punishing yourself for these things, I know it's hard but you need to move forward." She squeezed his hands for emphasis, "Part of healing is forgiving _yourself,_ okay?"

He nodded, eyes still downcast, "Okay." His voice was small, but she still gave him a reassuring smile.

Tubbo squeezed his shoulder, "Come on, let's get out of here." The shorter boy hauled his friend up, and began leading the small group back towards the nether portal, "Michael wanted us to bring you back when we found you." The other two soon stood to follow them.

\---

  
  


The trek through the nether and back towards Snowchester was fairly uneventful, aside from a few mobs that crossed their path. Though each time someone was quick to step in front of Tommy, keeping him from the monsters view or attack range. Puffy had separated from the group at the edge of the prime path, claiming she had a few things to attend to.

It was only when they reached the steps of the little cabin that they reached any actual hindrance, Tommy halting at the door and looking around nervously, "Are- are you sure it's alright? I mean, I mean, he's probably already asleep by now, and maybe it's a better idea if I just go home for tonight…"

Ranboo shook his head and smiled, "Nah, Michael is practically nocturnal, he's probably still up and running around right now." He put a hand on Tommy's shoulder, leading the blond inside, "And don't worry, me and Tubbo will be right there. We won't let anything happen, alright? Now come on, let's introduce you to Michael, properly this time."

"Okay," Tommy nodded hesitantly, and followed the pair up the ladder into the room, freezing when he heard a small squeal from the other size of the room, then the loud pattering of goofed feet as Ranboo helped him up into the room. 

Tubbo reached out and stopped Michael before he could crash into Tommy, "No Michael, be gentle, remember?" And in any other situation, Tommy probably would've been offended, but he couldn't bring himself to feel like that when the small piglin walked up and stared at him with stars in his eyes. Tubbo laughed with a small realization, "I think he likes your hair." 

Tommy laughed nervously and sat on the floor, "Right…" Michael plopped down right in front of him, tilting his head to the side. Tubbo and Ranboo sat a small distance away, but still close enough to quickly step in if need be, smiles tugging at their lips as they watched the scene unfold.

Michael scooted a bit closer to Tommy, holding his arms up and grunting. Tommy just shot a questioning glance at his friends, silently asking them what to do.

Ranboo laughed a small bit, "He wants you to pick him up."

Tommy quickly looked between them and Michael, a clear nervousness taking over when he spoke, "Uhm, are you sure that's a good idea?" 

Tubbo shrugged, "You're already sitting on the floor, I don't see how much could really go wrong at this point."

Tommy glared at his friend as he reached over to Michael, carefully lifting the piglin up into his lap, "Don't say that, shit _always_ goes wrong when someone fucking says that." 

Ranboo's face turned to a slight look of distress, " _Please_ watch the language around him, I really don't want the first thing he says to be some kind of swear." 

"Sure, whatever you say big man." Tommy replied, hesitantly hefting Michael up to rest against his chest. The piglin child reached up to his hair, carefully taking a lock of it in his hands and staring in wonder. He sat there for a few moments in silence as Michael gently pulled and stared at his hair, which had grown almost past his shoulders at this point, since he never bothered to cut it after exile.

Everyone in the room froze when they heard a small voice, "G- gold…" 

Tommy's head snapped over to Tubbo and Ranboo, all three of them having equally wide eyes, "Did he just…?" The other two slowly nodded at the half asked question.

"Ye- yeah," Tubbo nodded, a bit quicker this time, "yeah, he just he just spoke." 

The three sat in a shocked silence for a while longer, none quite knowing what to say. They stayed like that for a while longer, the quiet only disturbed when Michael yawned and snagged his head into Tommy's chest, lightly gripping at the blond's shirt.

"Alright, I guess its time he gets to bed, then." Ranboo slowly stood and walked over, leaning down to take Michael, stopping when Tommy leaned back, holding Michael closer to his chest protectively and giving a small glare, "Or… Not."

Tubbo snorted from where he sat, then standing to make his way over to the trap door that led out of the room, grabbing Ranboo's hand and pulling the taller boy along, "Alright then, think you can handle him while we make some dinner for us then?" Tommy nodded, and the two left at that.

\---

Ranboo nevously glanced back towards the room as he followed Tubbo into the kitchen, "You sure that's a good idea? I mean, last time didn't really-"

" _Last time,_ we didn't introduce them properly. We didn't make sure that they'd be alright before throwing them into a new situation, and just assumed that everything would go fine." Tubbo interrupted him, shuffling through the cabinets to look for a few pans to cook in, "This time however, we made sure they were both alright, and Michael is being careful with Tommy and Tommy is being careful with Michael." 

Ranboo sighed as he searched through the pantry for ingredients, "Alright, if you're sure…"

Tubbo just nodded, "I'm _positive._ Everything will be alright, okay?"

"Okay."

The two went through idle conversation as they went through prepping the meal, and eventually they had finished. Tubbo reached into the cabinet and pulled out a few plates, piling noodles and spaghetti sauce onto each, then turning to look at Ranboo, "Can you go get them real quick?"

Ranboo nodded and headed up the ladder, letting out a small gasp when he caught sight of the two in the room. He quickly ducked down and beckoned Tubbo over, refusing to raise his voice from a whisper, "Tubbo, Tubbo come here and look at this!"

The brunet quickly rushed over, climbing up the ladder and into the room to see what was apparently so urgent. He looked questioningly at his platonic husband, wondering what the big deal was, when Ranboo pointed over to the bed.

There, Tommy sat leaning against the headboard with Michael curled up in his lap and a book in his hand, both with eyes closed and lightly snoring. 

Tubbo looked up at Ranboo, a small smile on his face, "I think we can let them rest a little bit longer, it's been a long day, and we can just heat the food back up later…" Ranboo nodded, then walked over, grabbing the blanket that was kicked down to the bottom edge of the bed, pulling it over the two sleeping figures, and taking the book from Tommy's hand and setting it down on the nightstand.

"Yeah, come on, let's leave them be for now." He quietly spoke and went back towards the door, Tubbo following close behind. 

Today had a lot of downs, but the ups certainly seemed to make up for it. And both of them silently agreed that they'd be having Tommy over to visit Michael a lot more. If they could even manage to separate the two, that is.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it :D, also me and RyDyKG both wrote Michael fics and decided to post them at the same time, [Read For Michael](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30059067)


End file.
